A Thousand Years With You
by Blase Contradiction
Summary: Mikan Sakura is a heart disorder patient.With the Red Moon as her streetlight, she meets Natsume Hyuuga,a vampire with the power to grant his partner a life of a thousand snows.Can Mikan teach immortal Natsume a passion for life,even as she's dying?
1. Chapter 1: Mikan

**As promised, this is my adaption of Bisco Hatori's 'A Thousand Years of Snow'. but unlike the other G.A. stories, he doesnt calll her Polka coz i dun wan him to see her undies...okok? well...i hope you like it but i will only update this next when i finish 'Carved in Ice, Carved in Time' ok? keep reading and see what happens to Mikan and Natsume's future...bb! and dun forget to REVIEW!!!**

_I trudged through the hospital to my room. I sat on the bed, trying my hardest to stifle the tears that were streaming down my face. The news that I received shook me through and through. My uncle, guardian and stand-in scion of the Sakura family, had died of a sudden attack. No one knew how he died. They said it was blood disorder. But I knew, somehow, something darker was at work here. Something…sinister and I was part of it…_

_The moon outside was strange. It was casting a red glow. A red moon. Few people ever saw it. Some went their whole lives without seeing one. At least I saw it now or else…never. But something else caught my eye. A figure on the roof a Japanese bank. It was lean and wiry. A teenage boy, no older than I was. I couldn't see his face. But his actions shocked the living daylight out of me. _

_He jumped off the building and…_

…_disappeared…_

_I swore I was losing my mind. _

**Chapter 1: Mikan**

I was diagnosed with a heart disorder at the age of two. According to the doctors, it was always in me, dormant. It set its first attack for that tender age. I remember how it went down…perfectly…as if it was happening now.

**Flashback: 14 years ago…**

Mother had just picked me up from the nursery along with Dad. Uncle Harada sat with me in the back seat, asking me about my day. Then, a sharp pang hurt me in my chest. "Mommy," I sobbed, "it hurts!"

It was like my mother knew about my condition. Her distraction led her to a bridge…where it would all end. She swerved and turned, trying to bring the car back to stable conditions…but it was impossible. The last thing I heard from her voice was a scream. After years of listening to the same scream, I finally deciphered what she said. "Harada! Get Mikan out! Now! Hurry!"

My uncle grabbed me and jumped out of the door, earning himself a few bloody cuts a gash across his arm that would forever remind me of the sacrifice my parents made and the rescue my uncle pulled off to save my life. I always cried when I recalled that memory.

Then, the doctor diagnosed the pain in my chest as heart failure. It was predicted that would never live to see fifteen. But here I was, sixteen. Almost dying. But, that memory…it was also…guilt-ridden. Every time I see my mother's face, I think, "I don't deserve to live." My uncle says it's absurd. I say it's the truth.

I have blood on my hands. I'm a murderer.

**End of Flashback**

The wind swept pass my face as I watched the stars from above. Beside me, was the boy that had jumped off from the roof. He was still asleep. I smiled at his innocent face. I wondered what colour eyes he had. His jet-black hair fell in bangs over his eyelids. Peace. I wondered what it was like.

"Who are you?" I heard. I merely closed my eyes and smiled a little. He was awake.

"So you're awake," I whispered.

I heard him rise and I did too. I opened my eyes and what I saw shocked me. Beautiful scarlet irises mixed with mauve and a thousand different shades of the same colour, blending into a single pair of eyes, mesmerising, spellbinding.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

"Sakura, Sakura Mikan," I whispered, still lost in his paradoxical eyes. "You?"

"Tch," he growled. "I don't have to tell a vile human like you anything. Where's that Ruka?"

As if on cue, a shadow crept up and formed itself into another man. I was stunned. Who were these boys? The one he called Ruka was a typical blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy. But they had something in common. They both had pale skin, far paler than paper, as if they had never seen the sun. "Finally! You'd think you wanted me to die!" the red-eyes boy exclaimed. I saw the blonde had a huge container of food in his hand. My curiosity was answered when the red-eyed one attacked the container,

"What's your name?" I asked the red-eyed one. When he didn't respond, his friend did.

"His name's Hyuuga, Natsume Hyuuga."

"Nice to meet you," I said cheerfully.

"Tch."

He rose and tossed his mane of jet black and began to walk towards the roof's edge. "Let's go, Ruka."

"Wait! Don't tell me you're going to jump!"

Ruka did. And he was going to follow. He turned to me first. "A devilishly handsome guy with pale, pale skin," he said. "Haven't you seen a vampire before, little girl?"


	2. Chapter 2: Natsume

_thanks for being so patient...i noe i havent beeen as active as i'd like to be but hey, i am here with my, i think so, much anticipated chappy two...tis of course is not completely mine...but i'll try...so bb..still thinking bout deleting the Carved story...0.o!_

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**Disclaimer (i): I dont own Gakuen Alice and sadly, never will...haihz...**

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_Since I was a little girl, I always wondered…_

_**Would I have loved healthily if my parents were still alive? **_

_And I went on…_

_**Could I trade in my life for death? **_

_And just recently…_

_**Would I have met him if they had lived? **_

_No one would answer my questions…_

_So they were left like that…_

…_unanswered…_

**Chapter 2: Natsume**

I thought over this, again and again. Nothing could stop the shock and awe I experienced. A vampire. Two in fact. I met two vampires. They say that people see strange things before they die. I didn't know if this counted. But something eerie was definitely there. Could they really be the bloodsuckers that myth told true? But the crimson eyes boy, his eyes, held no veracity, no longing to drink blood, to steal a life. They were soft, weakness hidden in the depths of the seemingly endless red paradoxes. But there was also a vibe. A vibe that told me that the need to drink the life-giving red liquid would come naturally. That part scared me.

I stood on the roof of the hospital, a shoe in my hand. I chuckled at his carelessness. I returned to my room and in turn, received a scolding from Marie, the nurse assigned to my room. I stopped her in mid-sentence.

"Would you believe me if I told you this shoe belongs to a vampire?"

And it was that idiotic sentence that got me landed in the doctor's office, cold compress on my forehead, thermometer in my mouth. I sat in the cushy patient's chair in Dr. Tsukimori's office. He was testing me for blood clots, much to my chagrin. Geeze…

"Feeling lightheaded or any headaches?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and walked away, swiftly when he released me. I strolled about the hospital gardens. I was the only one there. I saw the sparkling cherry blossoms swirl about in the wind. "Hey, idiot, give me back my shoe, will ya?"

I froze on the spot. I knew that baritone anywhere, although I heard it only once. I turned and saw glazed crimson eyes looking at me. I saw the dark jacket and jeans he wore. Then, the one shoe on his right foot. "Is that how you greet people?" I asked, annoyance poking at me fervently.

"No. Just to idiots like you."

I contained my anger, knowing full well what might happen if I lost control and over did it. It happened once. And that was the time I very nearly became best friends with Death. And I never wanted to see that again. I remembered the words Dr. Tsukimori spoke to me after I came from the car accident those years ago.

_Mikan, your heart…is like a ticking time bomb. It could go off at anytime. You must be very careful. _

_When I heard those words, the fear that I would die at any given moment. So I was careful. They said I would never live to see fifteen. And here I am, sixteen…and dying. But I remembered what it felt._

--,--,--,--,--,

I sat on the stone bench that over looked the koi-fish -filled pond. On the grass, Natsume and Ruka sat, or in Natsume's case, lay. "What exactly are you?"

"Didn't you hear me last night, girlie?"

"Yes. Vampires. So…why aren't I already dead?"

Ruka turned to me. "He's the actual vampire. I'm just a bat. Hehe. According to tradition, vampires have the ability to give the life span equal to a vampires if the traditional partnering is made. The human will be attached to the vampire. And in turn, earn a life of a thousand years, never needing to feel pain."

The words were gold. "Let's go, Ruka. See ya around, little girl."

"Wait!"

He turned. "Please. Would you turn me into a vampire?"

"What?"

"Please. Would you?"

"Do you know what you're asking?" I saw the immediate rage in his voice and eyes. They burned like hell's fury. "Do you want to live thousand years?"

"Yes. Please! Would you turn me?" I grasped his jacket. He snarled and glared.

"Go away, little girl. You don't know what you're asking." He pushed me and I instantly knew…he shouldn't have done that. I grasped my chest as the suppressed pain flooded throughout my being. I collapsed.

--,--,---,--,

_Whenever my heart gives out and I get attacked, I am suddenly surrounded by darkness. I fall into a dark place where no light would ever reach it. Then, I would get past the pain and the evil to find the deep, dark feelings of loneliness no one should ever have to know. _

_Then I think to myself…_

_Is this what death is? _

_A dark, deep feeling of loneliness that goes on forever and ever? _

_Never freeing into the sun?_

_Is it? _

_If it is…_

_Why…_

_Do you have to be alone…?_


	3. Chapter 3: Temptation

**Sorry it took me so long to put up chapter three...i was pissed off. did i not say in the past two chapters that this was ADAPTION!????? i didnt steal it but i loved Bisco Hatori's idea. it was sweet. but the sequel im writing is totally my own. so please stay and see them through...cya!**

**Chapter 3: Temptation**

"You are an idiot."

I rolled my eyes as I watched him stand like he owned the world or something, his hands tucked in his poncho pockets. "You could have told me about your heart."

"Why? Would it have made a difference?"

"Well, then I wouldn't I have pushed you." I smirked a little. "Why would you ask that of me?" I was startled. "Why would you ask me to turn you? To take you away from a life you have here? Why?"

"Because…I've never lived," I whispered. I smiled wistfully at the arms with three tubes taped to it. "I'm going to die. I've known that for so long." Silence ensued between the two of us. I wouldn't look up to look into his gaze. I was sure he had disappeared using his powers or something.

"Don't give up," he said, oh-so-softly, proving my guess wrong. "It's not over yet." I smiled a little at his…dark optimism. "That's why I hate humans. They're so weak and they give up as soon as things look bleak." I nodded and grinned a little at the massive amount of logic he showed. "And a little girl is no exception in my book."

"Mikan," I said. He looked at me, startled. "Call me Mikan. Please."

--,--,--,--,

_Humans are weak…_

--,--,--,--,

I walked in between Ruka and Natsume through the semi-familiar streets of Tokyo city.

"Tell me again why I have to come with you?" he had drawled. I smiled.

"Because you have to," I said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "Anyway, Dr. Tsukimori wouldn't let me out without an escort. So…I said you would."

**In Natsume's Mind**

That memory was as clear as day to me. It sort of…hurt. I didn't know why but it did. Funny, huh? I kept walking, fearing that she would see through the façade I put up in hope she wouldn't question me for anything I heard in the hospital.

**Flashback**

"_Can I pretty please go out?" I heard. I was leaning against the wall outside Dr. Tsukimori's office. "I'll be extra careful and I'll have a….friend with me." _

_He agreed. I blended into the dark shadows as she skipped out gaily. _

"_You agreed?" I heard the assistant nurse question. I slinked forward to hear clearly. _

"_Yes," I heard the rough, sorrowful male voice say. "Tell me, Irene, wouldn't you want to let her have her way in the end? I have her uncle's solemn wish that…she would have fun when her time came."_

"_You don't mean…"_

"_Ah, but I do," he said, cutting the nurse's exclamation. "Life often favors those that have ugly personas and detest those who are beautiful inside out. That girl…she deserves to live." _

**End of Flashback**

**Reality **

I hadn't been here in the city for the past four months. Ruka and I were laughing at a half-naked cowboy, singing (trying at least) in Japanese and playing a guitar while Natsume walked behind us, occasionally stretching the muscles of his face into a slight smile. "Where you want to go now?" I asked Ruka.

He gazed longingly at Natsume who had stopped behind us to look into the window of a restaurant. Three friends were visibly sitting inside, laughing. A girl and two boys. Like us. Heck, why not? I grabbed their hands and dragged them into a small café next to the restaurant. We sat in a three chair table outside and a waiter came to take our order. While we chatted, or rather Ruka and I, Natsume looked…a bit happier.

After three cakes (I'll never eat again!), coffee and a few smirks from Mr. Vampire, we left to walk off all the food. I heard a child's pitiful cry of sorrow. I glanced to the side and saw a young girl sobbing as a red helium balloon floated towards the wide blue yonder and the remains of her ice cream on the ground. My heart went out to her. I knew what it felt like. Having everything ripped away from you when you're young and never having another chance to recover it. I knew how it felt.

I looked up to search for the red balloon and found it. A paper white hand grasped it. Natsume descended to the ground and handed the red helium balloon to the young girl. She squealed in delight. I smiled and grasped his hand in mine. "Let's go," I said. He looked at me as though I was crazy and I pulled him along, knowing Ruka was happy seeing Natsume somewhat pleased. I couldn't see how as I was, as usual, dense.

And to my utter, and I seriously mean UTTER excitement, a carnival was opened nearby. And as I promptly dragged Natsume along, I could have sworn I saw him grin a little. I could have sworn it on my deathbed. The day was well spent if I say so myself. We rode the rollercoaster three times and I made Natsume sit on much to his apparent disgust. Then we ate and threw up! I was so lucky I didn't get another attack.

As we left the carnival grounds, I heard a shrill shriek of a terrified woman. A very high-pitched voice screamed, "Help! There's been an accident! For the love of God, someone call an ambulance!" I turned away as my stomach churned. On the ground, visible from a mile away, was the remains of a motorcyclist, splayed and distorted on the ground, bloodied and horrific.

The blood splattered like a gory horror film. Next to me, I heard Natsume gasp and double over. I realized that he had lied to me the bastard.

_Blood…_


	4. Chapter 4: Horror

**I'm uploading faster than ever!! WHOO!! its a thanks for being wif me every step of the way... for your info, i also have a one shot coming real soon... and another one based on the effects of blindness and music put together...till then, cya!**

**Chapter 4: Horror**

"Natsume…"

"Don't," I heard him snarl, "look at me." I realized that snarl held more fear than anger. His teeth began sharpening, the ends pointed like the sharp end of a spear. They glinted pure white. His hands, from cold, dropped to freezing temperature. He began jittering, shaking violently and shivering as though the Sun had disappeared, just like the effects of a seizure. "Please, run!"

"Natsume," I said quickly, panic not fear rising in my voice. "Take my blood! You lied didn't you? You have to drink blood. Please. Take mine!" Bad idea. He glared at me and began shaking violently, entering into a fit of wild anger.

He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me hard. "What's wrong with you? Don't you understand the horror of living for a thousand years?! The insanity? What if one day you come to hate this life of eternity? Who's going to take responsibility for your misery? Tell me, Sakura, WHO?!"

I couldn't answer him. I was wondering what he meant. The horror? Wasn't immortality great? To live forever, to see what world has to offer? "I don't understand," I managed to whisper. He began to look as though he would breath fire. He shoved me a little and took off running. "Natsume!" I cried.

A pain began welling up in my chest. No. Not now. I suppressed it as I had done before, a game I played pretending that if I held it down long enough, he would go away. It left me for a little while. I had time, no matter how little before the pain came back, this time with a vengeance. The effort to suppress the pain sent me to my knees, gasping for breathe, praying that I would have time.

Ruka was instantly at my side. I remembered the day he promised to protect me for Natsume's sake. He told me that Natsume was different after he met me. I didn't ask how different but it made me happy. He told me what happened to Natsume ten years ago, when he was seven. I felt the cruelty of his father's third wife. How could a woman do that to her own step son?

I watched his face with an unreadable expression, the memory of that day running through my mined.

**Flashback**

_Natsume had stalked off to find some caffeine, leaving Ruka and I waiting outside a convenience store. I smiled a bit. I turned to Ruka who, I found out, was looking at me intently. I blushed and looked away. Sure, Ruka was handsome with his gold straw hair and sky blue eyes but there was just…something that drew me into Natsume, something that a crazy person would call destiny. I didn't believe in destiny. Only fate. Mine was cruel._

"_Mikan, Mikan, Mikan," he said as though he was pondering something that he couldn't find the answer to. "I truly do not understand." I looked at him wryly as he flashed his ivory fangs at me. I didn't flinch. For and odd beyond all reason, I found that his and Natsume's mythical existence that a bishop or nun would call unholy…normal. As though I had known they were there all along. "Or maybe, I do, but I can't accept it."_

"_Ruka," I whispered. "Why is Natsume so cold?"_

"_He's a vampire," he said simply. I glared daggers at him. _

"_You know what I mean. His personality. I don't know if I'm hallucinating or it's just plain gut feeling, but I can sense that he's distant and lonely. Just existing, not living, wanting to leave his world."_

_He sighed. He told me his tale. I was shocked. He leaned against the wall. "You truly are one in a million, Sakura Mikan," he said, musing on something. "I don't see how…Master Natsume can be so transparent in your eyes. Like he's an open book that you can read easily."_

"_It's not hard to see a lonely soul, Ruka," I said, reflecting on the teachings my uncle had taught me. "In his eyes, I saw the red sorrow that was plain but so hard for those that have known him for so long to see. You just have to look and you'll find it. He's haunted by his past, I can tell. He's hiding behind his emotional walls that he built to keep away the pain. Behind the walls, he's crying. Looking for something."_

_He looked at me as if I had just repeated the ENTIRE Bible backwards. "I want to make him smile, Ruka," I whispered, looking down at my hands. "I want to see his face light up with happiness. Make him feel like anything in the world is possible if he gives his life a try. To be with someone who can care for him." I remembered my life, its crumbling walls, the cracking ground, ebbing away slowly with every heartbeat. "But I don't know if I can, or if I'm strong enough. Or even if it's in my power." I looked up and saw him smiling, his face radiating a pure adulation that someone had finally come to save his friend from the darkness that threatened to drag him into it depths. _

_Ruka saw this young girl, garbed in jeans, a turtleneck sweater and a trench coat, her caramel brown hair hanging on her shoulders, determination and doubt mixed in her big teak eyes, sparkling with a thirst for adventure. He knew this girl could do it. She could bring Natsume out of the future that was bleaker than anything he knew._

"_I know you can," he said. "If anyone can, it's you." I smiled brightly as I could, directing happiness in his path, hoping to do the same for Natsume if he gave me the chance. "And I'll protect you. I'll watched every step of the way, helping you. And one day, I can't see where it is, but one day, we'll see Master smile again."_

"_Thanks Ruka. You're a good friend."_

**End of Flashback**

"Ruka," I said, water welling up in my eyes. "I don't want him to quit. If he quits…we may never see him smile."

He nodded. We set off in search of Natsume, praying that he didn't get hurt.


	5. Chapter 5: Reflection

**ook...here is my gift to you...i am uplaoding like crazy and i will keep on...this story is almost at its end. about seven or eight chappies only i gues...but i am thinking of putting up a dif story b4 the sequel 4 dis...okok? cya! **

**Chapter 5: Reflection**

Our vampire sat in a cherry blossom's branches, his thoughts running around in circles. He was a legendary creature, said to have been one of the most powerful. And here he was, regretting the weakness he had shown. That was how vampires truly were. Weak. They would succumb for blood. It disgusted him.

_Humans are weak…_

_How many times do I have to watch one human I get attached to slip by me into the world I may never see? How many times do I have to see these people go before me? How many times? Tell me…_

_So…_

…_will I be able to take someone with me? Into the far off future that even I cant see? Because of my incredibly long life and because humans always go before me, will we lose our minds in the incredibly long time span?_

_And then when that person begins to regret the made decision, despising the long, horrifying destiny of eternal life, how will I take responsibility for that? How? _

His memories of ten years ago still haunted him over and over again. Every beeping second of that night was a waking nightmare.

**Ten years ago…**

_The insanity crept through her blood like an invisible parasite. She felt herself slip away, slowly and silently. A little over a week ago, she wouldn't have minded in the least to living with that creature and his son while Cornelius was here. But now that he was gone, life seemed to have lost its sparkle, the reason to live wasn't there anymore. _

_Time and again, she tried killing herself, join him on the other side where he was waiting for her. But to no avail. Every wound she inflicted on her skin, healed lightning fast, allowing her to live. Now, she had finally lost it, succumbing to her fate. _

_One thousand years before she would see him again. A boot appeared in her line of vision. "What do you want, Constantine?" she spat. "You're not welcome here!" Unbeknownst to them, Constantine's adopted son was watching from around the corner. _

"_I'm sorry I ever agreed to spend eternity with you!" she shrieked hysterically. "I hope you're happy!" _

_It was over. Her eyes were glazed with madness, proof that insanity had completely taken over her now-lost mind. She laughed like a madwoman. Constantine sighed, knowing full well that after Cornelius's death was, Leisel's mind would be vulnerable to losing itself, to the abyss that was the oblivion those who regretted the life-changing choice. He took the vial that hung around his neck with a heavy heart. This would be complete oblivion for her. It was best. _

_Drip...drip…drip…_

_As Constantine left and Natsume fled, all that was left of Leisel, was charred ash. _

**Present Day**

That vial now hung around Natsume's neck. It was a constant reminder of the curse and blessing of the partnership and a last chance at redemption should the pact be regretted. Also that humans were weak and possessive, holding onto things that meant so little, way after it was gone.

_Humans are weak…_

Someone was shouting is name, bringing him out of his reverie. A shrill, high-pitched voice seared the air, surely able to break glass if given the chance and a microphone. He looked down, seeing a young girl with mussed caramel hair, and what looked like mud on her plaid skirt, while his servant/friend was looking in some bushes. He was about to leave when an abrupt smell, faint and familiar, wafted into the range of his heightened senses. Remembering well the lessons he was taught about his mortal enemies, he went on edge.

The furry odor of the ones that used to reside in the snowcapped mountain range of the Himalayas became stronger as a stray thought reached his mind. They were here. And when they saw the girl, they saw a single thing. Sacrifice…

**Mikan's P.O.V. **

My heart was weakening. I knew it. I felt the gentle, firm tug of pain with every breathe I took. Knowing that this time, that if I got attacked, I wouldn't survive, increased my will to keep walking. That dip in the lake wasn't helping.

**Fifteen minutes earlier…**

_I wandered around the lake that was constructed in the park. I noticed a pair of those kind of buffed up dudes you'd love to hate. I asked them if they'd seen Natsume. They didn't answer me but still, I kept pestering them and they were getting annoyed. Determined as I was, I wasn't going to give up. They had enough and shoved me. I got up and kept on. Finally, one of them threw me into the lake. I saw the look of pure unadulterated fury in Ruka's eyes took on as I sank into the wet water._

_When I got out, they were gone and Ruka was fussing over me. Where did they go?_

**Now…**

_Crack! _

I looked up and found Ruka thrown on the ground. His eyes were closed, signifying his unconsciousness. I started panicking. Who could've snuffed out Ruka? He was as strong as Natsume. I backed against a bush until I heard its leaves rustling. I turned and a wolf jumped at me!

Its eyes were violet, its gaze trained on me. I breathed hard, trying not to let the scream hitched in my throat be released, letting go of all hell. No. If anyone came to investigate, they'd get hurt. Suddenly, the beast was thrown off me, landing a little further than where I lay.

"Get off her!

I turned to look at my savior and I found myself looking into the cold, distant crimson eyes I had been searching for.


	6. Chapter 6: Enough

**okok! almost the last one! next is my epilogue and perhaps a sneak preview of my sequel which will not be out ofr a long time...hehe...sorry...kinds busy...oh wel...tanks to every1 for their support! ja!**

**Chapter 6: ****Enough **

Fear plummeted through me as I stared at the beast. Its violet gaze was locked on me, not caring of the vampire that swung the beast off me. I saw Ruka stir from the corner of my eye. Natsume seemed to emanate an aura of fear and fury. He sprung into action. All I saw was a blur of color flash by as the wolf was torn away from me and brought to battle with the vampire.

Natsume bared his teeth which had sharpened. His hands also seemed to grow claws. They were his weapons against this wolf's lethal hands and fangs, jointed with its heightened sense. "Ruka!" I heard him roar. I spun and saw Ruka crouching, clutching his head in dizziness. "Get her out of here! Now!"

"No!" I heard myself scream although my mind clearly told me to do as he said. "I won't leave you!"

"Go!" he roared as the wolf pounced. They engaged in a battle of punching and fighting, claws and fangs bared. I felt Ruka clasp my hand with his cold one but I refused to budge.

"Mikan," he pleaded, "please, go. If you get hurt…he'll never forgive himself." I froze. "What?" I asked.

"Natsume," he said. "He doesn't show it, but he cares. Something I can see after so many years with him, something in his eyes has changed. Something about him has changed. do you really think I want to look into his eyes for the next thousand years if he loses you?"

I heaved a choke. He cared? "Fine, Ruka," I agreed. "But you have to promise to stay and help Natsume while I run."

"No," he said. "He told me to protect you, to take you away, I won't let him down."

"But you'll let me down if he gets hurt because you're not there! Promise you will!"

"But…okay. You run now! Go!"

I scrambled to my feet and took off running.

--,--,--,--,--,

The pain in my chest became bigger. I stopped running. It was finally here. Death. I felt the daggers that stabbed my heart. I knew that Ruka would find me sooner or later, watching was his duty. He promised to protect me for Natsume. But needn't anymore. I called out weakly as one-by-one, my anatomy's organs and limbs became numb and limpid, stopping all movement.

"Ruka!" I gasped out. He appeared, a red gash on his arm, worry marring his face. "Don't tell him about this. Just tell him that I…I…"

I never finished my sentence. I heard Ruka cry out and I finally fell into Death's cold river that I had managed to evade for the past fourteen years. I was floating downstream into the abyss I would never again escape. The river had claimed me…

--,--,--,--,

I chanced to open my eyes for what I thought was possibly the last time. All around me, the doctors and nurses whose faces were always familiar to me, were distorted in worry and concentration. I felt light and almost ready to give up my 14 year battle. Then it all stopped. Everything. The panicked rushing around and frenzy of medical care, testing their years of study, came to a screeching halt. Death was here, I was sure of it.

No. I wasn't ready to go yet.

They say that people see strange things before they die. But…I had seen them and my due for those observations was due. Vampires and werewolves. I would never forget the things they taught me. How to love and to never give up the fight for what she loved. She thanked them from the bottom of her heart. One regret still lay in her heart.

I saw a single moving entity in the room. Raven locks an scarlet irises looked at me with a glare, though soft and pull of pity. "Natsume," I whispered through the oxygen mask they had fixed around my face. It was hard to talk. It was even harder to look at him. "I'm not here for you," he said coldly, not looking at me. "I only came because Ruka begged to in tears. I finally met his eyes. They were blank.

He turned to leave. I breathed with difficulty to say my last word to him. I removed my mask. "I'm sorry," I whispered. He stopped. "I'm so sorry to have to leave you like this. I know having the people closest to you die is the worst possible thing that you could have happen to you. But Natsume, even though can barely speak, I want you to trust and believe me. To trust me when I say that there will be people who will need you and want to be with you from the bottom of my heart. Just like how I wanted to be with you." I couldn't see the tears that had begun to form in his eyes like they did mine.

"And others who will want to care for you and spend those one thousand years with you. No matter what happens, they'll go through everything with you. Believe me, there will be people like that." I began coughing violently. I couldn't put it off any longer. Death wouldn't wait anymore.

"I'm sorry," I forced myself to keep talking. This was my last chance to convince him that people would care for him, putting him before everything else. My last chance to see him smile. "I wanted to live a thousand years, it's true. But only if you were there with me all the way." I closed my eyes for the last time and let myself be carried off into a world of stars.

**Natsume's P.O.V.**

My hand covered my mouth to stop myself from crying out as my tears violently shook me. No. I couldn't let her go. At least not now when I had just found here. After eighteen years of struggling to find a place in the world and thinking that all humans, however weak, were useless, feeling-less beings. No!

I cut my lip and as blood filled in my mouth, I brought her in close. My memories, holding them close, filled my thoughts. The beginning when I met the sick girl out in the night. Meeting her in the hospital garden, secretly smiling behind her while she and Ruka chatted. Spending that perfect day with her in the city. They all mattered because they were special. Because it showed she truly cared.

_Being with you forever…_

_Giving you the life of a thousand years you wanted so much…_

_Mikan, I can't do those things for you…_

_But I want to be with you now…_

_Even if it's for a little while… _

_Even if it's only for now…_

…_I want to be with you._

My lips collided with hers…and instantly, I knew that what I had been feeling for the past few days, that abnormal, unfamiliar feeling wasn't fake…wasn't an illusion or a dream. I love her, I thought. And I want to be with her forever. For more than a thousand years. Because…

…she wanted to be with me from the bottom of her heart, despite the monstrous being that I am. Being with Ruka, protecting us both.

And that was good enough for me.


	7. Epilogue: Even For One Day

**Hey guys! sorry it took so long n its so short...but we've reached the end for this part. I am working on a sequel but it wont be up 4 some time...everything here is...weird but nvm...hehe... i am working on a prequel to my oneshot-Broken. I think it's called Once ... Oh yea...my next multichaptered fic is called Seeing Music but still sorting that out...wel...gtg... **

**P.S. My exams are next week so I wont be uploading much for sometime...ciao**!

**Epilogue: Even For One Day**

**Mikan's P.O.V**

I watched again as the snowflakes that cascaded from the sky surrounded him like a glowing halo. I had received a little bit of life from him, more time to live and to convince him that there were people who cared and would want to be with him forever. I had that second chance on that wintry night. I saw, even with the same cold aloofness he was intent on displaying, that his eyes that has always looked at me with indifference and scrutiny, as though thinking that one day, I was going to betray him, had somewhat softened to degree as if on that same night, he had discovered something obvious.

But that piece of life he gave me told my heart with every beat that there would be a day when I would save his heart as he did mine. Though my life wasn't guaranteed as completely safe because he did not take my blood, and I might not live to see the thousand snows that I wanted with him, but had not received due to his care masked by stubbornness, I knew one thing for sure.

I loved him with all my heart.

I felt it from the beginning and will decidedly not let it fade away, certainly not even after one thousand snows.

No.

I would preserve it.

He deserved it.

From the moment I met him, I knew something was special between us. Something even he didn't want to fade away. Knowing full well that I would be leaving plenty behind if we made the pact and the pain I would undergo, I didn't care. Natsume was worth it. The pieces of my life which I thought lost to time, had fallen back into place all because of him. The parts which I love and lost to fate had returned to me, my uncle remaining in my heart as the man who cared for me until I had reached this ultimate future. My choice was resolute. I wanted to be with him and Ruka. To protect them and perhaps find a way to be together. These legends had come alive to me.

Maybe, just maybe, we can find away to change their uncertain fate. Maybe….

But I was definitely certain about this…

That this feeling of his, of masked care and an uncertain stubbornness would one day blossom to become and eternal love to last a thousand years and possibly for eternity if we wanted it to… …and I was definitely sure of this.

And who knows?

I don't have to live a thousand years to be with him…

One day would be plenty enough.

**A/N:Okok...i fixed the proble, where everything was totally jumbled up...Sorry i kept adding then deleting the chapter...hehe...anywayz, i want to thank everyone for their support..it really means a lot to me...and thanks for all the comments...well, until next time! Ja!**


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